Pope Francis commends his pilgrimage to Our Lady

Early this morning the Holy Father made a private visit to the Papal Basilica of St Mary Major, to pray to the Virgin and to commend to her his upcoming apostolic trip to the Holy Land. After praying for around fifteen minutes, the bishop of Rome offered a bouquet of roses in homage to Mary “Salus populi romani”.

Pope Francis made a similar unannounced visit to the Basilica before his journey to Brazil in July 2013 for World Youth Day.

Anglicans and Catholics will unite in prayer at the very hour that Pope Francis will visit the Christians of Bethlehem on Sunday 25 May between 3pm and 4pm (UK time).

Cardinal Nichols said: “Many of our Catholic parishes will hold an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at exactly the time when Pope Francis is meeting the Christian communities in Bethlehem itself.

“I do encourage you, please, to use that hour on Sunday 25 May – the hour between 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock in prayer - so that we are in absolute solidarity with Pope Francis and with the Christians of Bethlehem as they meet together.”

See: ICN 20 May 2014 - Anglican & Catholic hour of prayer for Pope’s visit to Holy Land www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=24770